Nightmares
by Triscribe
Summary: As the saying goes, each new beginning comes from another beginning's end. Post movie, both fox and rabbit suffer from their own nightmares - but of the two, whose are more likely to come to life?
1. Prologue

A/N: Just got to see Zootopia for the first time last night, and suddenly I understood why the fandom has taken off so fast... Anyway, I got home and promptly started browsing the new stories on this site, and thanks to a particular line in Alex Reynard's piece 'Breaking Bellweather', decided that I had to write _this._

Hope you all enjoy!

-Triscribe

Prologue

"So what are you going to do? KILL me?!"

"Oh, no, of course not - he is."

 _Pow!_

 _Splat!_

"Argh!"

"No! Nick, fight it, please, you have to _fight it-!_ "

Even as Judy pleaded with him, though, Nick could feel the poison seeping into his veins, overriding his thoughts and replacing them with a primal need to hunt, to kill, to feed-

Distantly, some part of him remained that could hear Judy's shriek of fear, with the demented little sheep's bleating laughter in the background. It was that portion of Nick Wilde that grasped desperately at some semblance of control, tried to rein back his growing savagery. It was all in vain, though. His nose had picked up the scent of blood, of fear, and was intoxicated by it.

He leapt forward, chasing that elusive, fleeing form, one that he knew would provide a bountiful meal for a predator such as himself. Something else, something that wasn't his prey jumped at him, and the fox proceeded to tear it to bits. Then he was stalking towards the cornered rabbit, which had clearly given up on the chase and was just waiting for him to snap its neck and start devouring still warm flesh-

Gasping, Nick sat bolt upright, eyes darting about in a panic as he tasted imaginary blood filling his mouth.

Plain white walls. Wide window opposite a heavy door. Medical equipment on either side of the bed he was laying on. And off to one side, a pale grey and white bunny sat slumped over in a chair, nose twitching slightly as she slept.

Nick ran a shaky paw over his head, gradually calming down as memories returned to him: swapping the serum for blueberries, bringing Bellweather to justice, making it through the police academy, and starting his cop career as Judy's partner. Which all led up to their most recent case, one that included chasing down an elusive tech thief, one with claws sharp enough to-

 _Oh, right._

-to apparently slice right through police body armor and give a fox four deep gashes across his torso.

Vaguely, Nick could recall Judy standing guard over him, trying to staunch the bleeding until their back-up arrived. After that, everything just sort of faded to black.

Wincing as he laid back down, the fox ran a tentative paw over the bandages wrapped around his middle. At least nothing more than skin and muscle had been torn, though he figured it was a sure bet Judy would be giving him what-for over not being more careful.

Hypocrisy, thy name is rabbit.

Just as he was debating going back to sleep or trying to call for someone, Nick's attention was caught by his partner shifting in her seat.

"Nnnoo..." Judy mumbled, apparently caught in a nightmare of her own if the paw twitching and face scrunching were anything to go by. "Nno... Leave 'im 'lone... Nick..."

Cheeks warming beneath his fur, the fox tried to intervene before anything more embarrassing came out of the bunny's mouth. "Carrots. Hey, Carrots! Judy!"

Purple eyes snapped open, and in an instant she was on her feet, fists held at the ready to go up against supposed opponents. "W-wha-?"

"You alright there, Cottontail?" Her gaze snapped to Nick's grinning face, and Judy went through several different emotions so quickly it was almost impossible to catch them all: relief, joy, irritation, anger, and finally a tired sort of happiness.

"Hey. Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?" She asked, coming over to stand by his bedside.

Nick started to fold his arms behind his head, but quickly stopped when the motion unpleasantly jostled his chest. "Eh, I've been better. Also been worse, though, so I'm not about to complain." Judy just hummed, eyes checking over his bandages, before scanning the fox's entire form to make sure he hadn't gained any new injuries.

"You scared me, you know." The bunny said softly, instantly causing her partner's cocky expression to fall. "Worse than at the press conference. If you ever get hurt like that again, so help me Nicholas Piberius Wilde, you'll _wish_ Mister Big had iced you last year."

He chuckled, and then instantly winced. "Okay, no jokes, laughing apparently hurts."

"Sorry."

"Not your fault." Nick reached out to catch her chin, lifting it enough that Judy's guilty eyes met his own reassuring ones. "Same goes for what happened on the chase."

The tears that he had been expecting made their appearance, and Nick was quick to grab both his partner's paws and tug her up onto the bed. Granted, he wasn't able to do much actual tugging, but despite being confused as to the why Judy followed through with his silent request, settling herself into a ball beside him.

"I swear this thing's so big it's liable to swallow me whole," the fox joked once they'd both gotten resettled. "At least if you're up here taking up some of the space, there's a chance we can both get some decent rest."

"Both?" Judy asked, cautiously leaning against him.

"I woke up from a nightmare too." He replied darkly.

"Oh... I'm sorry. Was it the museum again?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Same... Well, sort of, but not quite." She quickly added, feeling how tense Nick had gotten. "I keep seeing you getting hit with the real serum, and then the rest of ZPD arriving and forcing a muzzle on you before they dragged you away."

Without a word, he tightened his hold around her slight shoulders, and Judy in return slid an arm across his stomach, just below the bandages. The two of them just stayed like that for a while, basking in the tangible proof of the other's continued life and sanity, until they eventually dropped off in a more peaceful sleep.

There were several animals who came by that saw them like that. The first was a nurse who simply smiled, checked Nick's vitals, and then went on her way. Later was Clawhauser, who snapped a picture of the pair on his phone and immediately sent it off to half the police force. And last but not least came Mr. and Mrs. Otterton, who tucked another blanket around the sleeping officers before leaving a Get Well Soon card and care package on the chair Judy had vacated.

So exhausted from their respective rough times, neither rabbit nor fox reacted towards any of them.

It was one of the last decent rests they each got for a long while...


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"No. Nuh-uh, no way, it is not possible for _Officer_ _Judy Hopps_ -" Nick folded his arms with a dramatic flourish. "-to have even _considered_ doing something so blatantly _delinquent_ as to _teepee_ her schoolteacher's house."

"She gave me three weeks of detention for something that wasn't even my fault!" Judy cried out in protest, heading towards the sofa with two bowls of ice cream.

Since being released from the hospital, the bunny had insisted on staying at her partner's apartment until he was fully recovered, so that she could keep an eye on him. Strangely enough, Nick found he didn't mind having the energetic rabbit around - she certainly kept things cleaner than he did, and being waited on hand and paw was pretty nice. More than that, though, was just having another living soul in the same space. And such a _vibrant_ one at that.

Once upon a time, Nick would've been driven insane by such a roommate, but now he was enjoying the company.

"Well," he grinned, accepting his serving of dessert. "I'm just glad to know I'm not the only reformed rule-breaker in this partnership."

"Nick!"

They continued to laugh and joke through the evening, up until the fox finally got around to what had been bugging him for a while.

"Sooo... Has there been any progress on finding the guy who slashed me?" He asked casually. Instantly, Judy stiffened up, her eyes hardening.

"Not yet." She muttered. "Chief's got half the force looking for him, but nothing's come of it yet."

"Hey, don't worry - he'll turn up, and then you'll get to slam the perp around with those deadly jumpers of yours." Nick stretched one of his feet down the length of the sofa, tapping it against his partner's hind paws. The bunny gave him a wry smile, before hopping up and collecting their empty dishes. Yawning, Nick sank down into his pile of blankets, and allowed himself to doze. He'd normally turn on the television for a bit of background noise, but the sounds of Judy cleaning up in the kitchen worked just as well.

 _Water running... Pots banging... Dart gun firing... Judy screaming..._

Jerking back awake, Nick bit back the hiss of pain as he jostled his injuries. Warily, he glanced towards the doorway to the kitchen, realizing that his partner had left off her dish washing. It sounded instead like Judy was talking on the phone.

A few moments later, she walked back into the main room, looking grim as she ended a call.

"That was Clawhauser." She said in reply to his unspoken question. "There's a hostage situation inside the Weather Generating Station that divides Sahara Square and Tundratown. Chief's calling in all available officers."

"Want me to-?" Nick was forestalled in his effort to get up by a soft paw being placed on his shoulder.

"You stay here and rest." Judy told him with a small smile. "Turn the news on if you want, but under no circumstances are you to get up from that sofa, got it?"

"What if the apartment catches fire?"

" _That_ is an acceptable emergency, but nothing else."

"What if the apartment floods? Or is invaded by radioactive spiders? Or-" The paw moved from his shoulder to his snout, effectively shutting the fox up. Judy's disapproving frown caused him to chuckle, which just irritated the bunny even more.

"I mean it, Nick. Nothing short of a life or death situation, alright?" He relented and gave her a muffled affirmative. Nodding, Judy hurried to pull on her uniform's vest and belt, then dashed out the door with a shouted "Wish me luck!"

A few moments after she left, Nick looked towards the TV - and the remote sitting atop it.

"...This is life and death." He stated out loud. "I'll die of boredom without some noise." With that, the fox pushed himself to a standing position, ready to shuffle across the room to retrieve the remote.

He wound up falling back onto the sofa in shock when Judy burst back in through the front door, bolted across the room, grabbed the very same device, and dropped it in his lap as she leapt _over_ the couch and took off out the door again.

"I thought I said don't move!"

Nick wheezed out a chuckle when his partner left for the second time, but resigned himself to laying down and taking another nap. First, though, the fox needed some to fall asleep to.

It was sheer luck that the television turned on to the city's main news channel, ZNN, and that one of their reporters was speaking from the base of the Weather Station about the hostage crisis.

"...atest word is that the teacher in charge of the field trip has been injured but not killed - as for the sixteen fifth graders, they remain unharmed, though the hostage takers promise that will change if they do not receive twenty million in cash by midnight." As Nick listened with growing horror, he picked up that a trio of armed animals, posing as janitorial staff, broke into the Station intending to ransom Zootopia's weather itself for their money, only to find a greater target: a group of schoolchildren on a field trip. Barricaded within the inner offices, where they were able to control everything from the Generators themselves to the security systems, the terrorists looked to have everything going their way.

Then on screen, the camera caught the dramatic arrival of ZPD's finest. Nick grinned as he saw Chief Bogo taking point, directing the SWAT teams to strategic locations and arranging the rest of the force in a living wall around the area. The reporter fell silent so that viewers could pick up on the bull's loud conversation with the terrorists through the loudspeakers.

Nick's jaw tightened as the trio refused to take any police officers in place of the kids - and then he gaped as Judy appeared, volunteering herself for it.

 _And being accepted by the terrorists._

-N-

Six hours, thirty-seven minutes and eleven seconds later, Nick's nerves were at the breaking point. Judy had entered the Station, leaving all her tools and weapons outside. Half an hour later, the school kids appeared, hurrying through the doors with their bloodied teacher in tow. A more specific threat came, with the terrorists promising to drop Officer Hopps down the generator shaft if their money didn't arrive.

At midnight, an armored truck arrived, carrying the crates of cash. It was allowed inside, the drivers sent back out immediately afterward. A few minutes later, one of the terrorists got back on the loudspeaker, about to deliver instructions for their safe escape from the Station when he was cut off by the sound of crashing, along with a shout of "She's lose!"

Then it went silent.

Just over an hour later, the outdoor speakers crackled to life once more, Judy's tired voice announcing that the threat had been neutralized, and that she was powering down all the security measures. Cops immediately swarmed the entrance, returning soon with the three knocked out thugs in cuffs. Judy was escorted out and promptly taken over to an ambulance, which took off.

Nick was up and on his way out the door as soon as it did. Rabbit's rule or not, he was getting to the hospital to make sure his partner was okay, and nothing was going to stop him.

Though, the aching, half-healed gashes across his chest were certainly slowing him up.

The fox had just made it outside and starting on his hike towards Zootopia General Medical when a police cruiser pulled up next to the sidewalk. As the window rolled down, he had to stifle an irritated groan at seeing the officers inside:

Amelia Lunis, a grey wolf nearly as strict as the Chief, and her partner Raquel Romblesten, a rhino with a penchant for cracking jokes at the expense of smaller animals.

"What do you two want?" Nick growled, not stopping. Lunis arched an eyebrow at him.

"To go home and get some rest. Unfortunately, Chief Bogo sent us to come give you a ride to Z General. Get in before I decide to go against orders." With that, the wolf turned to face forward again, the picture of indifference. Nick knew that look well, after using it himself so long.

Romblesten, on the other paw, snorted in amusement. "Oh come on, 'Li, everyone knows you wouldn't go against the Chief in a million years. But Wilde, you gonna get in or keep staring like we've switched heads?" Shaking off his shock, Nick approached the vehicle, and gingerly climbed up into the back seat.

He remained silent during the drive, as did his fellow officers, something Nick was grateful for. He'd never actually had a full conversation with either one, but overheard plenty between the pair, and wasn't inclined to deal with cold disapproval or bad jokes. When they finally pulled up to the entrance of the hospital, Nick just nodded his thanks before slipping out and heading for the doors. His eyes narrowed when Lunis got out of the car too, following him inside.

Chief Bogo was waiting by the front desk, uniform rumpled and expression tired after the long night. "Second floor, right wing, room twenty three." He said upon seeing Nick. The fox offered up a grateful look, moving towards the elevator as quickly as he was able. Bogo also told Lunis something, but Nick didn't think about it until she'd slipped into the elevator car beside him.

"What, have you been assigned to be my bodyguard for the night?" He asked icily.

"Something like that." Lunis replied, gaze fastened on the closed doors. "Since Hopps won't be in a position to keep your tail out of trouble for the immediate future, Chief wants to make sure _someone_ is around to do it."

"Gee, I feel so appreciated."

Lunis did send a look of mild reproach down at him then. "I don't like you, Wilde. But you're still a member of the ZPD, and when one of our own is injured we look after them, no matter what."

Nick had to bite his tongue to hold back a scathing comment that probably wouldn't be taken well. Fortunately, he was saved by the doors opening onto the second floor. The fox then shuffled out, noting the map on the wall, and headed towards Judy's room. Lunis stayed close behind him, not crowding his personal space, but making sure he was aware of her presence.

There was one moment of awkwardness when Nick had to pause and lean against the wall, panting slightly. Casting a surreptitious eye around to make sure they were alone, Lunis reluctantly offered a paw to him. Equally uneasily, Nick accepted, and supported some of his weight against her appendage as they continued onward.

They they reached the window that looked in on room 23, and the awkwardness suddenly didn't matter anymore.

Judy was sitting upright on the bed, wearing a hospital gown and looking more exhausted than Nick had ever seen her. The grey fur was singed in places, streaked with blood in others. A nurse was washing the stuff off with a damp cloth, carefully working around the bandages present on Judy's wrists. One of Nick's paws went up and tapped the glass, instantly gaining his partner's attention. She looked half relieved and half exasperated, yelling something at him that was muffled by the thick window.

"Here, Wilde." Lunis opened the door and held it for him, making Judy's rant suddenly audible.

"-ly warned you, Nick! I said a _life or death situation,_ you mangy fleabag, which definitely didn't mean-"

"What? What did it mean? 'Life or death' only applied me in the apartment?" Nick asked, moving towards her bedside opposite the nurse. "I'm sorry, but without a phone call or anything else to let me know you were okay, how could I not come to check on you?"

Judy had the decency to look at him with a slightly shamefaced expression. "Sorry. Had to leave my phone outside the Station with everything else - I still haven't gotten any of it back yet."

"Well, I guess I can forgive you for that, then." He watched quietly as the nurse continued to wash off the traces of battle from his partner's fur.

"Hey." Judy nudged him. "It's nothing bad, and I'll be able to leave after a day of observation."

"Still..." Nick motioned towards the stark white of the bandages, beneath which he could detect the coppery tang of blood.

"Oh, yeah, well, those thugs didn't have any restraints small enough to use on a rabbit, so they used wire to secure me to a railing. Not a big deal, it just took me forever to get free from the stupid stuff." Nick had to force himself not to shout about how it _was_ a big deal, something made easier when the nurse held another cloth out towards him.

"If you are going to remain, Officer Wilde, then make yourself useful."

"Yes, ma'am."

Judy fell silent as her partner helped wipe away the soot on her left arm, so Nick decided to inject a bit of cheer back into the atmosphere. He asked whether or not she gave the terrorists a good thrashing, and the bunny immediately launched into a detailed account of how she kicked their tails six ways to Sunday. Eventually, cleaned up and settled beneath the bedsheet, Judy worriedly asked how Nick planned on getting back to his apartment.

"I've been placed on escort duty, Officer Hopps." Lunis finally spoke up from where she stood by the door. "I'll make sure he's fine."

"Thank you," the bunny told her gratefully, just before she finally conked out. Nick shook his head in amusement, tugging the sheet up a little bit further. He really would've preferred to stay the night with his partner, but knew that with Lunis right there he'd never get away with it.

So, at three in the morning, the fox was driven back to his apartment building by the strictest wolf alive, who then insisted on walking him inside as well.

"You can barely stand up, Wilde, I'm not about to let you collapse in a stairwell." Lunis informed him. Nick heaved a great, put-upon sigh, but gave up his fight as the bigger animal followed him in through the building's front door.

"Fine, but I can make it down by myself, thank you oh so very much." He told her. And sure enough, despite the twinging pain from his chest, Nick managed to make it down both flights unaided. Once on the basement floor, he paused to shoot a triumphant smirk over his shoulder at Lunis. The wolf, though, wasn't looking at him - her eyes were wide, staring past Nick in the direction of his apartment door.

Which, the fox realized with a start upon looking forwards again, had been ripped off its hinges. He tried moving forward, but Lunis beat him to the punch. She pulled Nick back up the staircase by the back of his shirt, already grabbing her radio and calling for reinforcements. Once she'd gotten the injured officer back to the ground floor landing, the wolf descended on her own, taser in paw.

Nick grit his teeth, but stayed put, knowing full well that he'd be next to useless in a fight. Even so, his muscles remained taut and ready for action until the moment that Lunis reappeared, shaking her head.

"Whoever it was that broke in is long gone - I caught a faint scent, but nothing to indicate an animal was present within the last hour or two."

"Damn. They must have come just after I left." Nick muttered. He nearly jumped at the paw set carefully on his shoulder, and peered up at Lunis' uncharacteristic apologetic expression.

"Your apartment... I'm sorry, Wilde, but they trashed the place pretty thoroughly."

"How, thoroughly, do you mean?"

Lunis actually hesitated for a moment, and that worried Nick more than anything else. "I don't think I saw anything in there that hadn't been damaged or outright destroyed."

The fox briefly closed his eyes, and sighed. He didn't scream. He didn't sob. After a few moments, he asked Lunis to wait for their response from headquarters while he went down to see if there would be anything salvageable.

It wasn't until he'd gotten back to the wrecked doorway, out of sight and hearing range, that Nick allowed a few tears to leak out.

The dingy apartment wasn't much, but it had been home. And now it was ruined.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Nick, I am so sorry." Was the first thing out of Judy's mouth when she saw him the next evening. After being driven back to ZPD Headquarters by Lunis, the fox had promptly crashed on a sofa in one of the break rooms and stayed there for most of the day. Because upon waking up, all he'd been able to see in his mind was the wreckage that had been his apartment.

Not that he'd expected any less.

What was extremely _un_ expected was the sheer number of animals who stepped in looking for him, both to check on Nick's physical well-being and to offer their condolences over the attack on his home. More than a few promised that they'd be taking part in the investigation to find the ones responsible - even several officers who had made no secret of their disdain for him in the past.

Apparently Lunis' sympathy had just been a precursor. Maybe cops really did look after their own, regardless of personal prejudices.

Nick was still in a state of befuddlement over it all when his partner finally arrived, released from the hospital. Judy took one look at him, hopped up on to sofa and promptly snuggled up against his side. Too startled to resist, Nick carefully looped his arm around her shoulders.

"How are you handling this?" She asked, after a few minutes of peaceful silence.

"To be honest, I think I've been too numb to handle much of anything."

"Ah. Guess you haven't put much thought towards 'what's next', then."

"For cryin' out loud, Carrots, I've been asleep up until a couple hours ago!" He shot her an irritated look, which the rabbit easily ignored.

"Look," Judy stated, scooching herself around to look him straight in the eyes. "You know I've been thinking about upgrading to a slightly bigger apartment. How about we move in someplace new together and split the rent?"

Blinking, Nick just stared at her for a minute, baffled. It was one thing for the bunny to have inserted herself into his home life when he was wounded, but actually wanting to live with him full time...?

"C'mon, Fuzzbutt, don't leave me hanging - what do you say?"

"...Eh, why not. If nothing else, it'll be easier to snitch food out of those care packages your folks send."

"You do realize that since I mentioned your habit of doing that, they've started sending extra?"

Nick blinked. "They have?"

"Yep. And I bet if I say we're rooming together, my folks will send _two_ packages a month, one for you and one for me."

"Well then, how can I say no to that?"

-N-

The bunny, as Nick swiftly discovered, was terrible at picking real estate. He'd suspected as much after seeing her dinky, greasy, walls-thinner-than-cardboard apartment, but the search for a new place for the both of them to share just proved it. So, in order to 'spare' Judy, Nick jumped into handling the research, prospect viewing, and price negotiation himself. Which turned out to have an unexpected bonus - when the landboar of the best fit yet discovered he could potentially house Zootopia's two most well-known and beloved officers, he dropped the monthly rent by a full hundred dollars.

Nick certainly wasn't going to turn an offer like _that_ down, and decided to avoid mentioning it to his partner for as long as possible. Because, while Judy might have the sense of honor that demanded she pay full price for the place, Nick had spent far too long pinching his pennies to quit the habit at this point in time. Saving one hundred dollars a month for a rainy day? He'd gladly take that deal, thanks very much.

The apartment had a decent sized main room with a kitchen attachment, two small bedrooms, a hall closet, and a bathroom. Not much, but it was a bit of an improvement over Nick's previous sleeping arrangements, and a vast one over Judy's.

She fell in love with it the moment she stepped through the front door.

"Nick! This place is amazing!" The bunny immediately proceeded to hop around and inspect every single thing, so Nick just leaned against the bare wall and left her to it. This new apartment was, sadly, on the fifth floor of the building, but at least there was a working elevator plenty big enough to handle getting fox and rabbit sized furniture in and out.

Judy suddenly landed right in front of him, nearly giving the wounded cop a heart attack. "Can we afford this on the budget we discussed?" She demanded.

"Easy there, Carrots - we're way _below_ budget limits, thank you kindly. In fact, I probably could have found a place twice this size for the amount of money you were originally thinking, but decided that might not fit with your sense of modesty."

At least she looked a _little_ abashed. "Sorry. It's just, when I first moved to the city, I was trying to be really careful with my savings, which was why I was happy with a place so small."

"Yeah, I kinda figured. But! No more microwaved meals every late night - got everything we need here to whip up a well-balanced meal and store the leftovers afterward!"

Judy's nose wrinkled up. "You can cook?"

Instantly, Nick's paw pressed against his chest, just above the line of bandages. "You wound me, Carrots. What kind of self-respecting, reformed scam artist do you think I am?"

"The kind who'd eat his meals on someone else's bill as often as possible."

At that point, they decided a cooking contest would be in the near future, but first the new furniture had to be brought up and arranged. Thanks to Nick's still-healing injuries and Judy's oh so recent stay in the hospital, Chief Bogo had quietly asked a few of the ZPD to stop by and help their comrades out. Clawhauser led the charge, of course, followed closely by the others friends the pair had made over the last year. Well, mostly the friends _Judy_ had made, but none of them held anything against Nick and for that he considered himself to be on friendly terms with them. Even Lunis and Romblesten showed up, bringing the boxes of Nick's belongings that had been salvaged from his former apartment.

"Appreciate it, guys." He'd said when the pair were getting ready to depart. Sincerely, even, with only a hint of reluctance. "I could've just picked the stuff up myself from HQ tomorrow, but..."

Romblesten nodded at him, then gave her partner a pointed look, and Lunis let out a pained sounding sigh. "Wilde, it was pointed out to me that I neglected to explain my position on you properly the other night."

"Uh...?"

"When I said I don't like you, it's because I don't like anyone who doesn't take this job as seriously as I do. You're lazy with your paperwork, show up late to your shift _far_ too often, and give the Chief more headaches than the entirety of the rest of the ZPD. With the possible exception of Hopps." She added. "Still. You've proven yourself to be dedicated, and haven't fallen into any corrupt tendencies, making use of your power to gain favors among the criminal element. And I ought to mention, my neighbor and best friend growing up was a fox." And on that surprising note, Lunis turned and hurried off toward the elevator. Nick blinked in shock, and it took a nudge (read: punch) from Romblesten to snap him back to the present.

"She's feeling pretty guilty, seeing you freak out over your partner and then being attacked personally like that." The heavyset rhino explained. "Don't expect it to last, but being nice like this is her version of an apology."

"Oh. Well. Uh."

"See ya at work, Wilde. Hope you settle into the new place okay." Shaking his head as the other officer headed off, Nick stepped back into the apartment and closed the door. Romblesten and Lunis had been the last to depart, and the fox was relieved to have some peace and quiet again.

Though, considering Judy was still somewhere close by, maybe the quiet wasn't such a good sign... As soon as he turned around though, Nick saw that the fear was unfounded. His partner, apparently worn out from the day's activities, had set herself down on the sofa and promptly fallen asleep. The fox shrugged, grabbed a convenient blanket from one of their moving boxes, and pulled it over both himself and the bunny.

"G'night, Carrots." Hopefully, with her nearby, he wouldn't have any nightmares featuring the Natural History Museum...

-N-

Something was sitting on top of his face. Nick's nose twitched, trying to identify the scent, only to blink blearily when he realized it was familiar.

Specifically, that of a certain rabbit.

"J'dy." He muttered, turning his head to try and get out from underneath the large foot draped unceremoniously across his snout. The second one was sitting on his collarbone, while the rest of his partner's body stretched off down the sofa. Nick, by contrast, was only occupying a third of the seating space, his own hind paws tucked up against the arm.

"You're smaller than I am, dang it." The fox groaned in disbelief. "Why am I the one all scrunched up?"

"S'cuz yer nice..." His partner murmured, still clearly half asleep.

"Yeah, no, obviously you're just pushy." Nick snorted. "What time is it, anyway?"

Finally free of Judy's feet, he pushed himself upright enough to see the earliest streaks of dawn through the window. He flopped back over with a groan, mentally protesting the early hour. His partner's only response was to roll over and promptly fall asleep once again. Nick did his best to straighten out the blanket, but gradually gave up as the yawning overtook him.

A couple hours later, both of them jerked awake to a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" Judy announced, bounding to her feet. Groaning at the turnaround from sleepy bunny to energized bunny, Nick just flopped an arm over his eyes.

"Emmitt! Octavia! And the boys, come on in - we're just getting up, I'm afraid..."

"Oh, Judy, I do apologize, we can come back later-"

"No, it's fine, really. Cooper, Lenny, Nick's over on the sofa." The instant he heard those words, the fox's eyes snapped open, and he hastened to flee the area. Sadly, the blanket slowed him up, and suddenly there were a pair of grinning otter pups in his lap.

"Oof!" Nick winced at the sudden weight. "I do not remember you two being this heavy last month."

"Granny came an' visited." The younger of the two boys, Lenny, explained to him. "She always brings lots an' lots an' _lots_ of clams."

"Dad always says he needs to get a bigger pair of pants whenever she comes and cooks for us!" Cooper added. Nick chuckled, having felt the same way after his few visits to the Hopps homestead and being sent home with bags full of treats.

"Are your boo-boos better yet?" Lenny poked a paw towards Nick's chest, careful not to touch the bandages on display as his button-up shirt hung open.

"Mostly. Still need to take it easy for another week, and by then my fur ought to start growing back." That comment got both boys to giggle, and then their parents swooped in after a quiet talk with Judy.

The four Ottertons stayed until mid-morning, when they had to head off for Cooper's soccer game. Before leaving, though, they brought up a load of groceries to deposit in the apartment's kitchen. At first, Judy protested the generosity, insisting on paying them back - only to be stopped in her tracks when Emmitt winked and said that Mr. Big had asked him to do it, with a refund already promised.

"Huh." Nick mentioned as the family departed. "Think we could get the biggest crime boss in Tundratown to spring for all our groceries?"

"Nick!"

-N-

"They're in the same apartment now? Damn..."

"Don't get your wool in a twist - this might be a wrinkle now, but we can make it work."

"Maybe so... I still wish your thugs had killed the fox in his home."

"It would've been too soon. Trust me, in the revenge business, you want to take it slow and steady, up until it's time for the final blow."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

" _I think I need to rescind that celebratory toot-toot!"_

" _Hold on!"_

Squealing train brakes gave way to an alarm clock's squawking, and Nick nearly fell out of bed in his efforts to turn the irritating device off. In the end, all he managed was to knock the clock to the floor, but as it went silent Nick found he didn't really care.

"Never should have let her choose the alarms," he groaned aloud. After a few minutes spent getting his brain back in working order, the fox disentangled himself from the bedspread and got up. Once a t-shirt had been pulled over his pajama shorts, he shuffled out into the living room. Unsurprisingly, Judy was already up, and preparing breakfast while singing along to one of Gazelle's most popular hits.

"~I won't give up, no I won't give in~! 'Til I reach the end, and then I'll start again!~ No I won't leave, I wanna try everything~ I wanna try even though I might fail~!"

"Not bad, Carrots," Nick grinned where he leaned against the counter. Judy just nodded her thanks, continuing on with the song as she put together their breakfast. Fruit salads were assembled in short order, along with a couple small bowls of oatmeal that the rabbit sprinkled liberal brown sugar over. By the time she gestured for Nick to come get his portion, he was veritably drooling.

"Sometimes I think you're out to double my clothes sizes, Cottontail."

"Not when you work it all off keeping up with me!" Judy grinned back, sitting down across from him at their tiny kitchen table. Both mammals quickly dug in, foregoing conversation for a while. After the food had been polished off, Judy went to retrieve some of paperwork that they'd been neglecting due to recent events, while Nick rinsed off the dishes in the sink.

At one point, the rabbit checked her phone for messages and let out a groan. "Another corporation's tech department got hit last night - only one security camera caught the thief, but it was definitely the same guy we've been after."

"What'd he take this time?"

"Some experimental drilling device's internal components. Owners have estimated their worth to be in the millions, to the right buyer." Nick let out a low whistle.

"And we still can't even tell what species this guy is?"

"Nope. The baggy clothes muffle his shape too much, and after the chase where he gave you those gashes, I found a pair of mechanical stilts in the alleyway."

"Sheesh... Wait a second." Judy looked up at him questioningly.

"What, Nick?"

"If he used stilts to disguise his height, what's to say he didn't use some kind of specialized glove to claw me, too? Kevlar stops claws and high-powered projectiles, but not necessarily knives."

The rabbit's eyes went wide. "Ohh, shoot. That's a good point - and means that any research on natural claws that strong goes straight out the window."

" _And,_ " Nick went on, warming to his theme. "If this thief is making his own enhancing gear, why shouldn't he be smart enough to also make use of the stuff he's been stealing?"

"Right! That could account for why our computer guys haven't found any sign of illegal sales going on. Maybe those laser refractors were how he got into the vault with the drilling device, which could also mean the next place he plans to break into will have a super-thick wall or door he'll need to get through!"

Grabbing a blank notepad and pen, Nick starting making a flow chart of all the places their thief had been hitting in the past few months. Starting with the original robbery, he included what was stolen, and how the next place was broken into. "This is it, Carrots; at every business he's gotten into, we found signs of the previously snatched tech and just didn't realize it. Do you know what this means?"

"He's building up his arsenal, probably in order to break into some final destination..." Judy flipped through her stack of files, looking for something in particular. "Ah-ha! Here, these are the locations fitting his profile that haven't been hit yet."

Nick finished his chart, and dropped it down next to the open folder. Eyes flicking back and forth between the two, he and Judy slowly went through all the as-of-yet untouched potential marks for their thief. And then they saw it.

"'The Zootopia Aeronautics and Space Administration will be completing the final tests for their all-purpose exploratory drone.'" Judy read aloud. "'The machine can carry up to three astronauts, or be remote-controlled from an independant location, and wields a wider assortment of the latest sampling tools than any of its predecessors. In addition, it can withstand any conditions encountered in the galaxy, from the intense solar winds that buffet Mercury, to the blisteringly frozen temperatures on Pluto, and beyond.' Nick, can you imagine how terrifying that thing would be in the hands of criminals here on Earth?"

"More so than I want to think about," he muttered back, staring at the included diagram. The space drone was a monster - the closest thing he could compare it too would be a tank with lots and lots of retractable arms. "This _has_ to be his endgame."

"Well then, let's start figuring out what all he'd need in order to break into the institute where it's being tested, and go from there. If we can catch him when he goes to steal something vital for the final break-in, that stops the whole plot right there."

"Right, let's get this over to Bogo-"

"Ah! No you don't!" Judy caught ahold of her partner's shoulder before he could start to rise. " _You_ are still off-duty for another two days."

Groaning, Nick slumped in his seat. "But Carr-oooots, I'm going stir crazy!"

"Too bad. You start with tidying up this mess we made, and then figure out other ways of entertaining yourself."

"Argh, you are an evil bunny..."

"You know you love me," she called back over her shoulder, hurrying towards her room to change into uniform.

"Do I know that?" Nick glanced over the mess of papers beside the remains of their breakfast, all on a table in the middle of their cozy shared apartment. "Why yes, yes I do."

 _A/N: Dear divinities, I last posted for this thing back in, what, March? April? And yet, re-watching the movie this evening with my dad (third time for me, first for him) was enough to kick me to finish up this chapter and get it to you guys. Will you accept my humble apology? Especially if I promise it won't be nearly so long before the next update?_

 _Happy Holidays,_

 _-Triscribe_


End file.
